Southington, Plainville Health District Plans For Ebola

SOUTHINGTON — Local public health officials are preparing for any possibility of a case of Ebola virus which is plaguing three West African countries.

Shane Lockwood, executive director of the Plainville-Southington Health District, posted an update on the agency's website Wednesday, and spoke to the Southington Town Council Tuesday night. He's expected to speak to the Plainville Town Council on Monday.

Ebola, an often-fatal hemorrhagic illness that has killed 4,000 so far in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, has infected three people in the U.S., two nurses in Dallas who cared for a Liberian man who died of the disease, and a freelance TV camerman being treated in Nebraska.

Public worries about Ebola has been fueled by misunderstandings about the way the illness is transmitted, Lockwood said. It is spread through contact with bodily fluids and is not transmitted through food, water or air, according to federal health reports.

"I can't say there is a panic, but when I do go out in the public, I get asked questions about its spread, the chance it will be here and other worries," Lockwood said. "People are calm but it is on their minds."

In recent days, municipal health agencies have had conference calls with state and federal public health officials and begun preparing for the detection of Ebola in Connecticut.

Lockwood said his department either has or will talk with funeral directors about safe burials, with first responders about proper precautions, and to schools about field trips. The department is also updating public emergency and quarantine plans.